Harry and the Feline Heart
by teddylonglong
Summary: Minerva McGonagall relives her own childhood in various flashbacks while she watches Harry grow up at her side. The stories of two trios, Minerva-Poppy-Rolanda and Harry-Hermione-Ron. AU, partly OOC, abuse!Dursleys, health problem!Minerva, MM/AD,HP/HG
1. My Childhood

**Harry and the Feline Heart**

_This story will mainly be about Minerva McGonagall and Harry Potter. Minerva will contain various flashbacks of her own childhood while she watches Harry grow up at her side.  
__Normally, I don't like flashbacks, but they will be an essential part of this story, since Minerva's childhood　told in the flashbacks will provide thoughts and reasons behind situations. I know that some of you might not like them, but I won't abandon them due to their significance to the plot of this story- just to let you know in advance.  
The main persons in this story will be the two Trios, consisting of: Minerva, Poppy, Rolanda and Harry, Hermione, Ron. Pairings (probably): MMAD, HPHG  
A short word to the parting of paragraphs: __現在__ means PRESENT and __過去__ means PAST. Everything will be clear even if you don't know Japanese... just in case you wondered. _

_Mushcorn is my beta as usual - thanks for your brilliant beta-ing, Marsha!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

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**1 - My Childhood**

Minerva stretched her legs against the stiffness that was slowly overcoming her after sitting on the stone wall next to the Dursleys' residence for many hours and then proceeded to clean her fur on this fateful autumn day.

As she observed Petunia Dursley struggle with an extremely spoiled Dudley, her thoughts wandered back to her own childhood, which couldn't be described as extraordinarily happy. Her mother had been a witch, the heir of the McGonagall line, a powerful family descendant from great Merlin, and as a baby Minerva had already shown that the magical powers of the Merlin family still continued. Her mother had loved her more than anything else and had cared deeply for her little girl, whom she gave her own family name instead of that of her father. Unfortunately, she had died from a cardiovascular defect when Minerva was just five years old.

Minerva remembered the day her maternal grandmother and her father had returned from the hospital on that fateful Christmas Eve morning.

_**Flashback, 24**__**th**__** of December, 1930**_

Minerva walked down the stairs at McGonagall Manor when Malcolm, her favourite house elf, told her that her grandmother needed to see her right away. She found her grandmother crying, and her father told her while barely managing to hold back his own tears that her mother had died and would never be coming home again.

"But we can't live without Mummy," she replied, knowing that it was her mother, who had been doing everything for her so far.

"We can and will," her father replied and tried to show his small daughter that life could go on even without her mother.

_End of Flashback_

Minerva's father had been a Squib, who was not overly fond of magic but at least accepted its existence. He taught History at a Muggle school in the same town that McGonagall Manor was located, but Minerva only saw him in the evenings. However, she still had her grandmother, who continued to teach her reading, writing, arithmetic, history of the magical and Muggle world, as well as easy spells and charms during the day like her mother had before she passed away. When her grandmother died only two years after her mother had, the house elves cared for Minerva, and her favourite house elf, Malcolm, continued her studies with her.

現在

Minerva was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts when all of a sudden the street lights on Privet Drive were extinguished. Looking around with her feline vision she recognized the form of Albus Dumbledore, who was standing across the street.

Seeing his face, she knew that the terrible news she had heard was true. '_Oh Lily_,' she grieved inwardly, '_how could this happen to you?_' Flabbergasted, she watched as Hagrid brought Harry, the child that was like a grandson to her just as Lily had been like a daughter, to Privet Drive.

'Please, let me keep him and raise him,' her eyes silently beseeched the man at her side, but he explained something about blood wards and gently placed the child in front of the Dursleys' front door.

Minerva slinked around the corner to move her limbs for a while, before she returned to the quiet street in order to continue her vigil on the wall to ensure the child's safety until he was found in the morning. Minerva watched as the small boy slept, knowing that he was unaware of the fact that he was famous and that at that very moment all across the country wizards and witches were celebrating his defeat of a dark wizard, and not really acknowledging that the same small boy lost both of his parents for the peace that they now celebrated.

'_I hope they'll raise him well and won't hate him being a wizard_,' she mused and couldn't help her thoughts wandering to the past again.

過去

When Minerva was nine, her father married a Muggle colleague, who was worked at a school two hours away from McGonagall Manor. In spite of Minerva's vehement protests, he moved them to his new wife's home, taking Minerva with him and abandoning McGonagall manor for the time being. He arranged with the school that he taught for that he only had to teach from Monday through Thursday and spent those three nights a week in a small apartment near the school, leaving Minerva with her new Muggle stepmother, who was unconscious of the fact that Minerva was a witch. The girl inwardly thanked the house elves, who remained at McGonagall Manor, because they had charmed all her books, so that they appeared to be Muggle literature to Muggles' eyes. Her father and stepmother decided that there was no way she could be home schooled any longer and made arrangements for her to attend a nearby Muggle primary school.

Although she loved to study and adapted well at the primary school, Minerva was sad that she wasn't able to learn magic any more. She even had a few friends. However, after displaying accidental magic in a way that shocked the whole school, even the friends she had distanced themselves from her.

One day, Minerva had a homework assignment of writing an essay on a topic of her choosing. She decided to write a story about a witch, who was waving a wand and transformed into a cat. Maybe she had even seen her mother transform into an Animagus from before, but she wasn't sure anymore. She spent a lot of time on her homework and tried very hard to write a good essay. When she handed it in she was very proud of it. However, the teacher had taken her homework as an example and taught them that magic didn't exist and that women had been burnt in the Middle Ages, because people thought that they were witches.

Minerva became extremely upset. '_Of course magic exists and I'm definitely a witch_,' she thought as she became very angry and unintentionally let out a bout of accidental magic, causing the teacher's hair to turn pink.

A few weeks later, she accidentally summoned a piece of chalk from the other end of the blackboard, causing it to hover to where she was standing. Some of the children teased her terribly afterwards, causing Minerva to become so frightened that she let out another bout of magic and transformed into a cat, before she dashed away, hiding under a bush.

It was only when the teacher complained to Minerva's stepmother about her pink hair, the woman had learned that she was a witch and began to absolutely despise her, forbidding her to use any magic at home or even speak about it. Unfortunately, Minerva's father, who was a very gentle man, loved his wife too much to contradict her decision, even if he was hurting the child, whom he loved deeply.

Minerva was devastated. She didn't have any friends and she didn't feel welcome at home anymore. All her free time she spent alone in her room reading her Muggle and magical school books. However, by the time she turned ten, she had memorized all of her books. Pondering what to do now to occupy her time, she remembered how she had once transformed into a cat when she was younger when she had had one of her bouts of accidental magic. '_Maybe I can work on transforming anytime I want to_,' she mused and thus began to practise transforming into a cat. She used every free minute she had to practise, even in the washrooms at school, and a year later, she managed the Animagus transformation flawlessly.

現在

Slightly shivering in spite of her warm fur, Minerva jerked abruptly out of sleep at a woman's horrified shriek. Mrs. Dursley had just found Harry. Still in her cat form, Minerva watched how the woman she had met a few times at occasions like Lily's wedding or Harry's christening read the letter that Dumbledore had placed next to Harry on the doorstep.

"Vernon!" Petunia shrieked into the open door of the house, causing little Harry to let out a frightened wail. "Oh, shut up you freak," Petunia said harshly, causing Minerva to throw her an angry look, sad that it remained unregistered by the hateful woman in the doorway.

"What's wrong?" a fat man asked, standing in the doorframe.

"The freaks are dead and we have to raise their son," Petunia told him in a small voice that Minerva could only hear because she was in her feline form, while shaking the letter in front of her. The woman sounded absolutely horrified at such a prospect.

When Harry began to wail louder, the woman threw him a terrified look and said, "Vernon, let's go inside. What will the neighbours think?" With a disgusted expression she picked the baby up, holding him away from her like one would a stinky piece of rubbish, and returned into the house.

Minerva moved in the direction of the garden, from where she could look into the kitchen window, and observed the woman roughly place the boy into the cupboard under the stairs. Ten minutes later, Minerva's sensitive ears could still hear the child crying.

Knowing that her physical condition was not good enough to remain any longer on the cold stone wall, Minerva decided to return to Hogwarts for the time being. '_But I'll come back and check on Harry every now and then_,' she resolved. '_If I see that it's gets too bad, Albus will just have to allow me to take him in_.' Jumping down from the wall she chased a mouse to behind the garage, where she transformed back into her human form and apparated to the gates of Hogwarts.

Minerva was glad that the Headmaster had cancelled all the classes for the day as she sat in her seat at the head table in the Great Hall next to Dumbledore and told him exactly what she had witnessed.

"Just to let you know, Albus, I'm going to check on Harry whenever I can. Do you know that he called me 'Gwanny'? I just have to make sure that he's all right."

Dumbledore sighed. "Minerva, I'm sure that he'll be safe with his relatives, but if it'll make you feel better, you may go and check on him from time to time. However, you must not let him see you, and you know that you shouldn't let yourself get so upset, my dear."

"Maybe you could stop doing things that upset me then," Minerva smirked, although she knew that her old friend only meant well. She returned to her quarters and let herself sink into her comfortable bed, feeling completely exhausted. However, sleep didn't come easily, and her thoughts turned back to her school days.

過去

In the summer before her eleventh birthday, Minerva's father told her that beginning in September, she would attend the school in which her stepmother taught at. "Minerva, we expect you to behave yourself. Remember, no magic at school," her stepmother said sternly.

'_I don't want to attend the school, where she is teaching_,' Minerva thought horrified. '_Everyone will tease me about it in spite of the fact that she hates me, and I don't know what'll happen to me, if I do magic even without wanting to_.'

One day, an old man came to visit her at home.

'_Oh Albus, you're the best_,' Minerva thought and slowly drifted off to sleep.

現在

Minerva only woke up when her best friend, Poppy Pomfrey, poked her head in the door of her bedroom. "Minerva, what's wrong with you? I missed you all day yesterday and today," she said worriedly, giving her friend a piercing look.

"Sorry Poppy, I'm fine," Minerva replied. She motioned Poppy to sit on the edge of her bed and told her where she had been and what she had witnessed that morning, before she burst into tears, clinging onto her friend's robes. "What if Petunia hates him like my stepmother always hated me? You know how jealous she was because I had a good relationship with my Dad and because I was a witch. What if Petunia and her family, especially her son, are jealous of Harry or hate him because he's magical?"

"Oh, Minnie, it's all right. He'll be fine and if not we're going to bring him here. You know that Albus loves you; he'll do anything for you," Poppy replied, gently rubbing circles on her friend's back. "Rolanda and I will accompany you whenever you want to go to check on Harry. I suggest that you give them a bit of time to adjust to the new situation, and we'll go check on him Saturday morning, provided that I can escape from the hospital wing for a few hours."

"Thanks a lot, Poppy," Minerva replied, feeling slightly consoled. During the rest of the week she spent a lot of time thinking about her past. Even the Gryffindors noticed that their Head of House seemed to be very distracted and used the time to play pranks, hoping that the professor wouldn't bother to take points away from her House.

'_When I heard that I could come to Hogwarts I was so happy. It was the best day of my life_,' Minerva mused, throwing the Headmaster a grateful look, who chuckled, because he had just won their game of chess.

"Check mate, my dear."

過去

_**Flashback, 1**__**st**__** of August, 1937**_

Minerva was just sitting on the swing at the nearby playground, musing about how to get to McGonagall Manor to get a few books from the library, when an old man appeared out of nowhere and stepped over to her.

"Minerva?" the old man asked, giving her a questioning look.

"Yes sir," she answered politely, looking curiously at the man's long white beard.

"I am Albus Dumbledore. I'm a teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," the man introduced himself, causing Minerva's eyes to widen in delight.

"A magical school?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes, and you're supposed to attend Hogwarts beginning the first of September, but you didn't answer my owl to telling me if you want to come."

"I want to!" she blurted out without even needing to think the matter over. Suddenly realizing what the old man had said, she enquired incredulously, "Your owl? I never got an owl from you."

"Well, then I'm going to have a small discussion with your parents, because they must have received my letter. I'll inform you afterwards, but I'm quite certain they will let you go."

_End of Flashback_

On the first of September, Minerva's father took her to King's Cross and showed her how to get onto platform nine and three quarters, where she boarded the Hogwarts Express in absolute delight. '_At least they can't laugh at me because I'm a witch_,' she thought in relief.

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tbc…

_You can find a story graphic on my Yahoo newsgroup page!_


	2. Watching Harry

**2 – Watching Harry**

On Saturday morning, Minerva woke up very early. '_Today, we're going to check up on Harry_,' she mused excitedly. '_Thank God that I have friends, who are there for me, if I need them. It'll be so much better to have them there with me than to be all alone like last week_.'

She suddenly had to laugh when she remembered how she had met her best friends on her first ride on the Hogwarts Express.

_**Flashback 1st of September, 1937**_

Minerva found an empty compartment and sat down, pulling her favourite book, '_Hogwarts: A History_', out of her new school bag. She had just begun to read when a very excited girl pushed the door open with a 'bang' and breathed, "Is a spot in here free?"

Minerva said, "Yes," and the girl threw herself in an empty seat only to get up again immediately.

"Oh no; I forgot my trunk on the platform. I'll be right back," she announced, dashing away.

Minerva threw her an amused glance, just as another girl that seemed much quieter, but still not as shy as herself, entered the compartment.

"Excuse me, may I sit here?" she enquired politely.

"Of course," Minerva replied, watching the girl curiously.

"I'm Poppy," the girl introduced herself, "Poppy Pomfrey, and I'm a first year."

Minerva threw her an uncertain smile, but immediately liked her. "My name is Minerva McGonagall, and I'm a first year too."

Just then, the other girl returned, flinging her trunk onto the luggage rack so fiercely that it fell down again, landing on Minerva's foot.

'_Ouch_,' she thought inwardly, gasping when Poppy all of a sudden pointed her wand at her foot, mumbling something.

"What are you doing?" the other girl enquired in an upset voice.

"I merely cast a diagnostic spell. Your foot is not broken, but it might hurt for a few hours. I suggest that you go and see my grandmother. She's the Mediwitch at Hogwarts and can give you a pain relieving potion. I'm going to cast a pain relieving spell at your foot, but I'm not sure if it'll work, because I'm not very good at it yet."

"Okay," Minerva replied wearily, and Poppy once more pointed her wand at her foot, noticing that Minerva sighed in relief. "That's much better," she said, amazed at the other girl's controlled and efficient magic. "Thanks a lot, Poppy."

"I'm sorry," the other girl apologized. "I'm Rolanda by the way, and it's my first year at Hogwarts. I hope I'll be able to play on the Quidditch team. Do either of you play Quidditch?"

"I loved to fly before, but three years ago we moved and since then I haven't been able to fly, but I don't know how to play Quidditch," Minerva admitted in a small voice.

"I love to fly, but my granny always says Quidditch is so dangerous, that students are always getting hurt when playing it," Poppy said thoughtfully. "Maybe you could teach us, Rolanda."

"I'd love to," Rolanda replied joyfully.

_End of Flashback_

現在

The sound of her alarm clock brought Minerva out of her reverie. '_Am I getting old, or why is it that I'm all of a sudden having flashbacks of my childhood?_' she mused, shaking her head in exasperation. '_Well, I need to get up. I have to instruct Rolanda to behave herself when we are in the Dursleys' garden_.'

Thirty minutes later, Minerva crisply walked into the Great Hall, bade her students good morning with an acknowledging nod of her head, and headed to the teachers' table, sitting as customary between the Headmaster and Poppy. '_Albus shouldn't know that they're going to accompany me_,' she mused, unconsciously rubbing her forehead to help fend off an oncoming headache that had been trying to take hold of her since the previous day.

"Are you all right, Minnie?" Poppy enquired in a small voice, giving her a piercing look.

"Of course," Minerva replied crisply in spite of knowing that her best friend was looking through her facade of toughness whatever she told her. Her thoughts wandered to Harry, so that she missed the pointed look Poppy threw the Headmaster.

"Minerva, I thought about something," Dumbledore all of a sudden addressed her. "By chance, Arabella Figg told me that she wanted to get away from Hogsmeade and move to the Muggle world, at least for a few years to see if life would be easier for her there, and I asked her to consider moving to Privet Drive in order to keep an eye on Harry. Last night, she Floo called me to tell me that she found an empty house and had moved in. It's just across the street from Harry's new home."

Minerva threw him a grateful look, showing she was extremely thankful for his thoughtfulness, but she still didn't feel comfortable about leaving the baby with his Muggle relatives. "Thank you for your consideration, Albus; nevertheless, I'm going to spend a few hours roaming their garden," she replied stubbornly.

The Headmaster sighed. "Please don't let yourself get too upset, Minerva," he said gently, before he rose and placed a kiss on her forehead on his way out of the Great Hall.

Minerva and Rolanda followed Poppy into her office, which is where they always departed from, if they secretly went somewhere together.

"Minerva, you know Arabella Figg pretty well, don't you?" Poppy asked as soon as they arrived in her office.

"Yes, why?"

"Can you Floo call her and ask if we can Floo over to her place in order to check on Harry, or do you think she'll tell Albus that we were with you? You know that I don't want you to apparate too often, and we don't know where the place is ourselves."

"She won't tell," Minerva replied annoyed, knowing better than to object to her friend. "All right, I'll ask her." '_Do I seem that weak?_' she mused. '_I don't want to rely on others to go somewhere_.' She grudgingly went over to the fireplace and called Mrs. Figg, who seemed to be pleased to be able to speak with Minerva and her friends.

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in Mrs. Figg's living room having tea, after magically unpacking all of her belongings from her recent move that was still packed in boxes when they arrived.

"I already went to the Dursleys to say hello and offer them to babysit when Petunia showed me her little 'angel'," she sarcastically emphasized the last word. "Petunia then told me that her nephew was living with them too and that he was quite a nuisance. She said they couldn't take him anywhere because he was always crying, and she'd loved me to take him from time to time, so that she could go away with Dudley for a few hours. There was no sign of Harry though, while I was there."

Rolanda chuckled. "Thank God that Petunia doesn't know who you are, otherwise she wouldn't even think about it letting you babysit Harry."

"Arabella, can you call us when you have Harry here? I'd love to see him, provided that it's not while I'm teaching."

"But we aren't allowed to tell him, who we are, are we?" Arabella asked hesitantly.

"I'm sure he'll remember me. He used to call me 'Gwanny'," Minerva smiled. "He is like a grandson to me."

"Can he already talk?" Arabella questioned her. "He's only a year old."

"Magical children are able to speak earlier than non magical children," Poppy explained gently. "Nevertheless, Minnie, I don't believe Albus will like it."

"I don't care. I want Harry to know that we haven't forgotten him," Minerva replied firmly and stood up. "Let's go. Thanks for everything, Arabella."

"Wait, Minnie!" Rolanda called her back. "I think it would be better to transform into our Animagus forms, before we leave the house."

"That's true," Minerva sighed, and the three friends transformed and left the house through the back garden.

When the three animals arrived in the Dursleys' garden and began to watch the house through the kitchen window, Minerva's thoughts turned back to her first train ride. '_At that time, I wouldn't have thought that I'd still be best friends with them after more than fifty years_,' she thought as she proceeded to clean her fur.

過去

_**Flashback, 1**__**st**__** of August, 1937**_

"What House do you think you'll be sorted into?" Rolanda, who seemed to be unable to sit quietly for longer than five minutes, asked, while she tried to catch a chocolate frog that had just made a daring escape attempt, and succeeded by jumping out of the window.

Minerva and Poppy threw each other an amused look. "I'll probably end up in Ravenclaw," Minerva said finally. "I know that my mother was a Ravenclaw, and our house elves told me that she loved to read just as much as I do."

"And your father?" Rolanda asked curiously.

"My father is a Squib," Minerva replied hesitantly.

"Minnie, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your Mum?" Poppy enquired gently, giving Minerva a soft smile.

"She died when I was five. All I really know is that she had a heart condition that had complications."

Poppy threw her a shocked glance. "Are you sure that you're all right, Min? Not that I want to frighten you, but to the best of my knowledge heart problems can often be hereditary." she added quickly.

"I'm fine," Minerva replied, smiling. "Now what House do you think you'll be in?"

"My father was in Gryffindor, and my mother is a Muggle," Rolanda replied, grinning.

"My father was in Slytherin, and my mother and grandmother were both in Hufflepuff," Poppy added, causing Minerva to groan.

"I'd love for all three of us to be sorted into the same House," Minerva said sadly. '_I never had real friends before, but I really like these two and I'd love to be friends with them_,' she mused.

"Well, we'll have to wait and see; but I'd like that too," Poppy replied.

_End of Flashback_

現在

All of a sudden, Harry's wailing that Minerva had already been hearing since they arrived at the Dursleys' garden became louder. She turned her eyes to look through the kitchen window once more and saw Petunia pulling a slowly quieting Harry out of the cupboard. She roughly pulled the arm of the child, who wasn't able to keep up with her fast pace and let himself sink to the floor, so that Petunia was dragging him across the floor making her way towards the stairs, where they vanished from Minerva's sight.

"Where are you taking the freak?" a male voice, which Minerva remembered as that of Petunia's husband, suddenly shouted.

"I have to change his nappy at least twice a week," Petunia shouted back, sounding extremely annoyed.

"Don't tell me you'll change the freak on Dudley's changing table. I don't want our son to become infected by his freakishness. Just put him on the kitchen floor."

"That's true," Petunia admitted, dragging the baby into the kitchen, where she left him on the floor and instructed him, "Wait there." A minute later, she returned with a fresh nappy and changed him on the floor. When he still didn't quieten down, she took a bottle with milk out of the fridge, filled a little of it into a baby bottle, and handed the child the bottle, before she returned him to his cupboard.

'_Cold milk out of the fridge? And such a small amount?_' Minerva thought terrified, looking at her friends, who had been watching the scene as well. The white dove that was sitting on one of the front branches in the tree began to make such an angry noise that Petunia hurried to the window to see what was wrong in her absolutely perfectly normal garden. All that she could see though was a squirrel hopping around her flower bed and destroying all her beautiful flowers. As soon as she opened the kitchen door to shoo it away, it glided up into the tree, where it hid from her view just behind the white dove.

Upon seeing the squirrel fly upward, Petunia mumbled, "D_arn annoying animals tearing up my flower garden, but wait a minute squirrels don't fly into trees, must have been a trick of the light and it actually climbed the tree. I must be tired from listening to that brat crying all day."_

As soon as Petunia returned to the kitchen, mumbling what the three Animagi thought was something about annoying animals, the white dove flew down and landed on the wall next to where the grey cat was sitting. She took a place next to the animal, giving it a piercing look, before she flapped her wings invitingly and flew down on the grass, taking a few steps towards the street. When she saw that the cat and the squirrel both followed her, she took into the air and made her way back into Mrs. Figg's garden.

"I think that was enough for today," Poppy said when her friends arrived and transformed as well.

"I don't want to leave him," Minerva replied stubbornly.

"Minnie, it was enough for you. You won't be able to help Harry, if you make yourself ill from worrying so much. We're going to return to the castle now, and you'll rest for a while," Poppy insisted after a glance in Minerva's pale face.

"I'll stay for a few more hours," Rolanda promised, causing Minerva to throw her a grateful look. She transformed back into her squirrel form and slid up the next tree, from where she jumped from the top and glided across the road and to the back of the Dursleys' house.

Once the two witches arrived back in Poppy's office, the Mediwitch urged her friend to accompany her to lunch. "You know that Albus wants you there, and I don't want you to miss meals either, even if for a different reason."

Minerva sighed. "Poppy, I'm tired, and you know that I don't want the students seeing me like this."

Pomfrey rolled her eyes and handed Minerva a phial with Pepperup potion. "Here, drink this and we'll be on our way."

Knowing her friend too well to protest, Minerva grudgingly obeyed, and ten minutes later, the two friends entered the Great Hall just in time for lunch.

"How was it?" Dumbledore asked gently.

"Absolutely horrible," Minerva hissed and reported angrily what she had witnessed. "And don't tell me to give them more time, Albus," she finally ended her rant.

Before the Headmaster could reply, Poppy threw in, "I'd like to speak with you privately right after lunch if possible."

While her two friends retreated to the hospital wing, Minerva returned to her office, where she sat at her desk, trying to concentrate on grading the essays in front of her. '_That girl should be in Ravenclaw_,' she mused, writing a red 'O' on top of a parchment. Suddenly, the pictures of her own Sorting were brought to the forefront of her thoughts.

過去

_**Flashback, 1**__**st**__** of August, 1937**_

"Your House will be your family while you're at Hogwarts," Dumbledore spoke to the new first years in a small room next to the Great Hall. "There are four Houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Now, let's get you sorted to see where you belong. Please follow me."

Minerva anxiously entered the Great Hall between Poppy and Rolanda, listening to Poppy's explanation about the charmed ceiling. '_I read that in Hogwarts: A History_,' she mused, '_but it must be cool to have your own grandmother working at Hogwarts_.'

In the meantime, Dumbledore had begun to call the students forth for their sorting from the roll in his hands, and Minerva watched as everyone took their turn sitting on the chair, before the Sorting Hat announced the student's House.

Finally, the first of them was called. "Hooch, Rolanda," Dumbledore read, and Rolanda eagerly approached the Hat.

Only seconds later, the Hat announced, "Gryffindor," and Rolanda headed to the Gryffindor table with a huge applause.

"McGonagall, Minerva," was the next.

'_Please put me with Rolanda and Poppy_,' she thought imploringly, while Dumbledore placed the Hat on her head.

'_Ah, so, together with your friends you mean? Well, I haven't sorted Poppy yet, so I don't know where I'll place her, but I think you'd do well in Ravenclaw_,' she suddenly heard a high voice in her mind.

'_No, please put Poppy and me into Gryffindor with Rolanda_,' she thought back frantically.

'_Well, at least you know exactly what you want, and I can see courage and the thirst to prove yourself. All right, if you're sure, then let's say..._' "Gryffindor," the Hat shouted the last word into the Hall, and Minerva quickly took a seat next to Rolanda in absolute relief.

"That took quite a bit of time," Rolanda laughed. "Did you have a conversation with the Hat?"

"Yes, a bit. I'll tell you about it later," Minerva replied, watching in concern as Poppy was obviously having a similar discussion with the Hat.

Only a few minutes later, her friend sat next to her, smiling at her. "I managed to convince him," she whispered, only loud enough that Minerva and Rolanda were able to hear.

_End of Flashback_

現在

"Minerva!" Albus' voice suddenly penetrated her ear. "I'm sorry to disturb you, especially since I have unpleasant news to share."

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tbc…

_Thanks to Mushcorn for her brilliant beta-ing!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	3. Our First Fight

**3 – Our First Fight**

"Unpleasant news?" Minerva asked flabbergasted. "Is something wrong with Harry?"

Dumbledore sighed. "No, Minerva, Harry is fine. You just need to give them a bit more time to adapt to his new situation and to overcome his family's hate of magic." Ignoring Minerva's snort he continued, "Alice and Frank Longbottom were cursed with the Cruciatus Curse last night. They're in St. Mungo's, unfortunately Bellatrix Lestrange apparently held the curse on them too long. They probably won't recover from their ordeal. Little Neville was taken in by his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom."

"I know her well; she was sorted into Gryffindor when I was a fourth year. She's a good woman," Minerva replied automatically, still trying to understand what had happened.

過去

She remembered Augusta O'Connor's – as her name was before she married – Sorting. Minerva, Poppy, and Rolanda always tried to guess where the Sorting Hat would place the new students from their expressions and their behaviour as they awaited their turn to be sorted. Augusta wore a very stern expression and her mouth was stretched into a thin line as she watched the other first years talking and giggling clearly with disapproving of their behaviour. Rolanda guessed she would be sorted into Slytherin, Minerva thought Ravenclaw, and Poppy was sure she'd be a Gryffindor like themselves, and as usual Poppy was right. She was extremely good with reading other people, and Minerva always had the impression that Poppy could read another person's thoughts and emotions just by looking at them, even Minerva herself included, which was truly amazing on one hand, but also unsettling on the other, if she wanted to keep something to herself.

現在

"That's horrible," Minerva pulled herself back to the present. "Apart from Severus Snape, who was very close to Lily during her first five years at Hogwarts, Alice was Lily's best friend. Will they go after all of my former students, who fought on our side?" she asked, terrified. "Did they at least catch Lestrange and throw her into Azkaban?"

"I'm afraid not, my dear," Dumbledore replied, calmingly laying an arm around her shoulders. "Minerva, I want you to stop working and worrying for the time being. You can continue your grading later or tomorrow, when you are not as stressed and have had a bit of a rest. Come with me," he said softly, gently leading her into their quarters. "Let's take a little rest," he coaxed her into the bedroom, where he cuddled her while she slept, remembering the stern talk Poppy had pulled him into a short while ago.

_Flashback – An hour ago in the Mediwitch's office_

"Albus, I'm concerned about your wife," Poppy told him. "Lily's death and the fact that you gave Harry to his relatives has caused Minerva's condition to worsen immensely. Over the last week, she has continuously suffered from headaches due to her immense stress and thus has also induced her blood pressure greatly. You should find a way to keep her from going to look in on Harry every weekend. I share her opinion that we should take Harry in and raise him here. I disapprove of Harry's aunt's behaviour towards him greatly, but I do not want to lose my best friend over this. Please try to take better care of your wife."

_End of Flashback_

'_Minnie will hate me for it, but I have to forbid her and her friends to go looking in on Harry. Arabella will keep an eye on him anyway, and if the situation gets too bad for him, we can always bring him to Hogwarts later_,' Albus decided, throwing his sleeping wife's form a fond look. '_Minnie's health has to be the highest priority_.'

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

Over the next week, Minerva couldn't help but worry about Harry and the Longbottoms. '_At least I don't have to worry about Neville_,' she mused. '_He'll be all right with his grandmother. She's extremely strict, but at least she's a witch and won't hate him for being a wizard_.' Once more, her thoughts returned to her own Hogwarts days and her encounters with Augusta Longbottom.

_**Flashback 4**__**th**__** of October, 1941**_

It was one o'clock in the morning and Minerva's birthday had begun just an hour ago. Poppy, Rolanda, and Minerva shared a dormitory with two very nice girls, Niamh and Therese. Minerva's four roommates had decided to throw a night-time birthday party for Minerva and woke her up at midnight. The five girls were huddled on Poppy's bed, drinking butterbeer and eating all sorts of delicacies, which Niamh and Therese had bought on their last Hogsmeade visit, so that Minerva wouldn't notice anything in advance and would be surprised. She always went to Hogsmeade with Poppy and Rolanda. The three of them were always together, and everyone just called them "The Trio."

All of a sudden, the dormitory door opened and Professor Dumbledore entered the room, followed by Augusta O'Connor, who was a second year at that time.

"What do you think you're doing?" their Head of House asked sternly, peering at them over the top of his half-moon glasses.

"Today is Minerva's sixteenth birthday, sir, and we're just having a small birthday party for her. It's Sunday anyway, and as we don't have classes in the morning we can sleep in a bit," Rolanda replied quickly, and the friends noticed that the edges of the teacher's mouth pulled up.

However, glancing at Augusta, the teacher replied, "Well, then you have enough time to serve detention with me all the afternoon today and help me grading the first and second years' tests. I expect you in my office at three o'clock. Now Ms. O'Connor, please go back to bed."

"Yes sir," Augusta replied and hurried up the stairs to her dormitory.

The professor smirked, throwing a Silencing charm at the door behind him. "The next time you have a party, put a Silencing charm on the door. I expect you to be in bed at two o'clock at the latest," he told them in a much gentler voice than before. "Ah, and Happy Birthday, Ms. McGonagall," he added, and Minerva noticed that his eyes were twinkling merrily.

When the five students entered their Head of House's office that afternoon, a birthday cake was sitting on the table, and the teacher invited them to have tea and cake together.

"Do you have an idea what you'd like to do after you take your NEWTs?" the professor asked casually while they were enjoying their tea.

Rolanda was the first to reply, "I want to, if possible, play Quidditch professionally."

"I'm sure that'll be possible, Ms. Hooch. Just see that you win the Quidditch cup for Gryffindor another three years, and you'll be able to choose which team you want to play for," Dumbledore replied, smiling.

"I'd like to become a Healer like my granny," Poppy said quietly, causing Minerva to smile.

"You already have all the knowledge needed for that, Poppy," she laughed. "You could remain at Hogwarts and replace your granny."

"I believe that is what our current Mediwitch has in mind. As far as she told me she wants to retire as soon as Ms. Pomfrey finishes her NEWTs and her Healer's exam," the professor added approvingly.

Niamh and Therese wanted to work at the Ministry of Magic, and Minerva shook her head in frustration. "I don't know, Professor," she admitted. "I'd like to study some more. And perhaps become a teacher later on," she added hesitantly.

"You'd make a brilliant teacher, Minnie," Poppy threw in warmly, giving her friend an encouraging smile.

"I'll keep that in mind, Ms. McGonagall," Dumbledore replied gently. "Now, in order for Ms. O'Connor to believe that you served your detention, I need one of you to grade the second years' tests for me."

"I'd like to do that," Minerva replied softly and quickly set to work, not knowing that from that time onwards, she'd often help her Head of House grading the younger students' Transfiguration work, setting her first milestone for the future career as Transfiguration teacher.

_End of Flashback_

現在

Over the next few months, Dumbledore kept Minerva busy throughout the weekends, hoping to distract her thoughts away from little Harry, although deep in his heart he knew that it was an impossible feat. His wife thought of the little tyke as her grandson and even kept a photo of a happily smiling one-year-old on the desk in her office.

With the intention of calming her friend somewhat, Rolanda Hooch sometimes spent a few hours in her flying squirrel form roaming the Dursleys' garden, but she never managed to see Harry. While his fat cousin was running around the house and the garden, there was no sign of the little wizard that was supposed to live in the house. Only a few days before the end of the school year when Rolanda once visited the place in the early evening, she had the opportunity to watch Petunia open the door of the cupboard under the stairs and place a bottle with milk in it. '_Only a bottle of cold milk_,' she mused angrily, resolving not to tell Minerva about her observation in order to prevent upsetting her friend. Instead, she gave the Headmaster an earful when she returned to Hogwarts that evening.

Suspecting that it was partly Poppy's fault that Albus kept her from visiting Harry by setting up more Hogsmeade visits, other trivial tasks, and staff meetings than ever on the Quidditch free weekends, Minerva consoled herself with the thought that she'd have a lot more free time during the summer holidays.

'_Of course while we're at Dumbledore Manor the first month of the summer vacation, he will not allow me to get away, but when he returns to Hogwarts and I'm at McGonagall Manor in July, I'll have time then to look in on Harry_,' she mused, while she supervised the first years taking their end of year tests.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

Unfortunately, nothing went according to Minerva's plan when Albus noticed the night following the Leaving feast that Minerva's breathing sounded strange and that she seemed to have a high fever. He urgently called Poppy, who diagnosed that Minerva had caught pneumonia. She cancelled her own holidays, which she intended to spend with her sister's family, and kept Minerva at Hogwarts throughout the whole summer in spite of her friend's weak protests.

During one of her fevered nightmares Minerva relived her first real fight with Poppy.

過去

_**Flashback October 1942**_

On the Monday morning of her seventeenth birthday, Minerva received an owl from Professor Dumbledore at breakfast.

'_Dear Minerva, since you're seventeen now, I'll be able to escort you to McGonagall Manor. Please come to my office on Saturday morning directly following breakfast. AD_'

Minerva couldn't believe her luck. Since she was nine years old, it had been her greatest wish to return to her childhood home, where she had been as happy as she was at Hogwarts. During the next few days, she was walking on air.

However, on Friday afternoon, she noticed that her throat was sore in addition to the headache that had been bothering her since that morning. Unfortunately, even though she didn't alert her friends, Poppy noticed immediately that something was wrong and cast a diagnostic spell on her when Minerva went to bed a bit earlier than the others that evening.

"Minnie, let me take you to granny. You have bronchitis and need to get a few potions from her," Poppy said gently, giving her friend a concerned look.

"No Poppy, I'm fine," an upset Minerva protested. '_Leave me alone; I WILL go to McGonagall Manor tomorrow_,' she mused.

"Minnie, you have quite a fever, and it'll be worse tomorrow if it remains untreated," Poppy argued.

"I warn you," Minerva replied angrily. "If you tell your granny or anyone else about it, I'll be really angry at you."

When Poppy checked on her friend again early in the morning seeing that her condition had only worsened during the night, she once more tried to reason with her without success. Annoyed and worried at the same time, Poppy left the dormitory to fetch her grandmother.

Minerva quickly waved her wand at herself, exchanging her pyjamas for her school robes, before she hurried to Professor Dumbledore's office and knocked.

"I'm sorry Professor, but I'm so excited. Can't we leave for McGonagall Manor right now? I'm sure the house elves can make breakfast for us there," she suggested, throwing the professor a pleading glance that he couldn't resist.

'_How Slytherin I am_,' she mused, grinning, when she stepped out of the fireplace at McGonagall Manor where Malcolm immediately pulled her into a light hug.

"Finally, you're back, Mistress Minerva," Malcolm squeaked happily. "I've been so waiting for you for so long."

"I missed you too, Malcolm," Minerva replied, unable to keep her tears back when she hugged the little elf back.

Only when Malcolm tried to bow deeply in her embrace, Minerva remembered that her Head of House had followed her through the Floo network. She quickly released Malcolm, who bowed again.

"Welcome to McGonagall Manor, Master Albus, sir. It has been a long time," the elf said excitedly.

"Hello Malcolm; yes, it's already twelve years since Rowena died," he said gravely, explaining to Minerva, "Your mother was a very good friend of mine."

"Malcolm, would it be possible to get a bit of breakfast?" Minerva suddenly remembered to ask, causing the small elf to bow excitedly.

"Of course, Mistress Minerva, Master Albus; breakfast wills be served in the dining room in five minutes."

Fortunately, Dumbledore remembered the rooms in the manor better than Minerva and led his student to the dining room. During the next hour, he entertained Minerva with stories about her mother that she enjoyed immensely in spite of the fact that she was feeling worse by the minute.

"Please don't forget to eat," Dumbledore all of a sudden interrupted his story, seeing that Minerva was only playing with her food.

"I'm not very hungry yet," she replied wearily, hoping that the professor would leave it at that.

"Do I assume correctly that you want to remain here for the day?" Dumbledore enquired gently.

"Yes sir."

"All right then; I expect you to take the Floo back to my office before curfew," the professor instructed the girl, before he headed back to the fireplace, where the house-elves saw him off.

Minerva walked around the house, spending an hour in her old room, where she found her dark blue toy elephant that had extremely soft fur, which she had forgotten to take with her when she had to leave the house suddenly at the age of nine.

"Oh Momi, here you are," she breathed in relief at the sight of her favourite toy. "I missed you so much." She cuddled the elephant close and called Malcolm.

"Malcolm, could you show me the library, please?" she asked hoarsely, noticing that she didn't feel well enough to explore the house any further. She spent the rest of the day in the library, and by the early evening, she had found a pile of books, which she wanted to read as soon as possible.

"You could shrink the books and take them with you," Malcolm suggested, noticing that Minerva was considering what to do.

"Do you believe I'm allowed to take them with me?" Minerva enquired excitedly.

"Why not? Your mother left the Manor to you, Mistress Minerva," Malcolm explained gently. "You may do as you wish. Everything here belongs to you now."

Minerva complied and headed back through the Floo to Dumbledore's office. However, when she entered the Gryffindor common room, clucking disapprovingly, Poppy waved her wand at her, and after throwing her an angry glare, she stunned her and hovered her to the hospital wing.

Twenty minutes later, Minerva found herself in a crisp white bed in the hospital wing, groaning when she saw Poppy's granny waving her wand over her. "One hundred points from Gryffindor for aggravating your condition further, since Poppy instructed you to come and see me," the Mediwitch said sternly, before she told her that she had to stay for a few days.

Minerva didn't reply but busily cuddled her elephant to her, glad to have him back.

Minerva and Poppy didn't speak to each other for two weeks, although both of them missed each other tremendously during that time, and not only Rolanda seemed to be going nuts by her friends' behaviour, but the whole Gryffindor tower seemed subdued due to the fact that the always reliable Trio was not unified for the first time that anyone could remember.

_End of Flashback_

現在

It was already a few weeks into the new school year, and Minerva had still not been able to go to check on Harry, when Poppy unexpectedly received an owl from Arabella Figg, while they were eating breakfast at the Head table.

_Dear Poppy, I'm having Harry over this weekend, and I need you to come and check on him urgently. I hope you'll be able to come soon. Arabella Figg_.

Poppy tried to hide the letter, a bit too late, from Minerva's piercing eyes, and she noticed in concern how her friend's expression turned into a horrified one and her breathing became laboured.

_

* * *

_

tbc…

_Thanks to Mushcorn for her brilliant beta-ing!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	4. A Momi for Harry

**4 – A Momi for Harry**

Poppy sighed and turned to the Headmaster. "Albus, could you please keep an eye on Minerva for the time being? I have to run an errand, but I'll come and check on her as soon as I return."

Ignoring the murderous glare her friend sent her, Poppy left the Great Hall and took the Floo to Mrs. Figg's house, taking along with her a large bag with potions for all possible problems with her. "Hello?" she asked when she was only greeted by a few cats that were lounging around the fireplace.

"We're upstairs," Mrs. Figg replied, and Poppy hurried to follow the voice, finding the old lady sitting in a rocking chair in her bedroom with Harry cradled on her lap.

"Hello Arabella, hello Harry," Poppy said gently, seeing from the corner of her eye that Harry looked very small for his age. His little face was flushed and sweaty, although the boy seemed to be shivering, and his eyes were closed. "What's wrong, Arabella?"

"It's Harry. He won't speak a word, and he seems to have a fever, but I don't know what's wrong. He whimpers as soon as I try to undress him."

Poppy quickly waved her wand at Harry several times, before she spelled a fever reducer into his stomach and spoke to the child in a soft voice. "Harry, I think that your knee hurts you, doesn't it? May I have a look and try to make you all better?"

Harry, obviously feeling better due to the potion Poppy had given him, slowly opened his eyes, throwing her an anxious look, before he hesitantly nodded.

Poppy gently pulled his much too large trousers up and looked at his knee to find that it was badly infected. She pointed her wand at the knee, while she gently talked to the toddler, who looked extremely frightened. "Now, that's much better, isn't it?" she finally said, while she gently rubbed a healing cream on the now cleaned knee.

"Yef, fanku," Harry replied gratefully, throwing her a shy but genuine smile.

"Harry, these trousers are much too big for you. Let me adjust them a bit," Poppy told him, while she waved her wand at his large clothing, causing the small child to look at her in amazement.

"Mummy," he finally said, deep in thoughts.

"Yes, your mummy was able to do magic too, and you'll do that as well when you're big, sweetie," Poppy replied gently and turned to Arabella. "How long will he be here?"

"Until tomorrow evening."

"All right. He needs some more healing cream tonight and tomorrow morning and perhaps another fever reducer. I'll come again and check on him tomorrow afternoon." She put a few phials and the cream on the table and left the room.

'_Maybe I'll bring Minerva with me_,' she mused while she returned to the fireplace and returned to Hogwarts to check on her friend.

Poppy groaned in exasperation when she entered the previously empty hospital wing and saw six beds occupied by Slytherin and Gryffindor students, who had obviously tried to hex each other. Minerva was standing in the aisle giving all the students an earful about hexing each other in the halls, before she took twenty points each off Gryffindor and exactly the same amount off Slytherin, immediately shutting up the Gryffindor student, who tried to say something about "unfair treatment by his own Head of House."

Poppy motioned her friend to take a seat in her office, while she turned from spectator into Healer's mode and healed the children's cuts and bruises as well as two broken ankles, shaking her head at the boys.

In the meantime, Minerva thought about the first year's accusation of 'unfair treatment by the Head of House' and a long forgotten memory appeared in front of her mind.

過去

The Trio hurriedly entered the castle, knowing that they were already five minutes late for curfew. Unfortunately, a group of three Slytherin boys were equally late and just passing the entrance hall, causing the six fifth years to bump into each other. Nobody could tell afterwards how it happened, but their encounter ended up in a Muggle fist fight.

Only when the nose of one of the Slytherin's broke after a heavy swing from Rolanda, Poppy let go and told the others to stop fighting immediately, before she pulled her wand out to heal the boy's nose. The other four children however continued their fight until all of a sudden Professor Dumbledore, who was passing by, noticed the fight and pulled them apart with a wave of his wand.

The teacher escorted all of them to the hospital wing, where the Mediwitch checked on them and healed all their bruises and cuts, before she released everyone but Minerva, stating that she had a slight concussion and would have to stay overnight to ensure she had no ill effects from it.

"Fifty points from Slytherin," Dumbledore concluded the conversation and turned to leave the room.

"No!" Minerva shouted. "It was our fault just as much as theirs."

"But you're hurt and the Slytherins aren't," the professor replied sternly.

"No, Professor, Justin's nose was broken, but Poppy already healed it before you arrived," Minerva still protested. "I wasn't the only one hurt."

"Well, that's twenty points to Gryffindor for Ms. Pomfrey helping a fellow student," the professor replied gently with a merry twinkle in his eyes, causing Minerva to groan in frustration.

現在

"Minerva?" Poppy's voice brought her back to the present.

Poppy told her about her visit with Harry and announced, "If you promise not to tell your husband, I'll take you with me tomorrow."

Minerva quickly conjured an elephant that looked exactly like her own Momi. It had green eyes and a dark blue fur, which was very soft. "I want him to have his own Momi. Do you think we can give it to him?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes, but we should spell him invisible to Muggles," Poppy replied hesitantly, knowing that Harry didn't have any toys, at least according to Arabella Figg.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

On Sunday afternoon, the two friends stepped into the fireplace to visit Mrs. Figg and her small guest. They found them in the garden, where they were sitting in the grass looking through a photo album of the old lady's cats.

'_Harry doesn't seem to be very interested_,' Minerva thought with amusement, while she stepped into the garden and approached the pair.

The child threw Poppy a genuine smile, recognizing her as the kind lady, who had made him feel so much better the day before. "Hello," he whispered softly. It was hardly audible. All of a sudden, his eyes fell on Minerva, and he threw her a half frightened and half amazed look at her beautiful green robes, before he hurriedly averted his eyes to the ground before he could even get a glance at her face.

Only when Minerva held the elephant out to Harry, telling him in a soft voice, "This is Momi, and he told me he'd like to stay with you, Harry," the child gave her a frightened look and anxiously reached for the soft, cuddly elephant as a flash of recognition appeared on his face for a split second.

"Are you feeling better today?" Poppy asked gently, slowly waving her wand at the child, before she put it away and nodded contentedly.

"Ye, much bettew, fanku," Harry replied in a small voice, while he busily cuddled his new toy.

"Would you like some tea?" Mrs. Figg suggested.

"That would be nice, Arabella, but let me conjure it," Minerva replied and conjured tea and biscuits on the garden table as well as pumpkin juice for Harry.

They had to call Harry three times, and Minerva already began to consider if the child had problems with his hearing, when the boy finally complied and hesitantly walked over to the table. He stopped behind the child's seat that Poppy had conjured for him and gave the adults a frightened glance.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Minerva asked gently, causing the child to turn his eyes to her.

"I not 'loud tabu," he whispered hardly audibly.

"You're not allowed to sit at the table?" Minerva enquired horrified. "Who told you that? Of course you're allowed to sit at the table for tea. Look, Aunt Poppy conjured a children's chair for you. Shall I help you get in?"

"Aun Tuna. Yef pweaf," Harry replied hesitantly, raising both arms up towards Minerva.

"Do you remember me, sweetie?" Minerva asked softly, while she gently placed Harry into his chair, noticing that he gave her a hardly recognizable nod.

After tea, Arabella asked Minerva to watch Harry for a moment and ushered Poppy into the house, because she wanted to speak with her in private. Minerva conjured a soft red ball and gently taught the small boy how to play with it. Harry was obviously having a lot of fun, but Minerva noticed that his walking and speech seemed to be at the same stage it had been when she last visited with him and Lily. When she noticed that he was tired from running around, she transformed into her cat form and sat down in front of the child, rubbing her back against his feet to coax him into stroking her fur.

Very hesitantly, the child sat down and reached out for her, while he was still holding Momi firmly under his left arm. "Gwanny Kittie," he whispered in complete amazement, while he obviously tried to be gentle stroking the cat's fur.

'_Yes, I'm your granny, Harry. Hold on, sweetie; one day I'll be able to take you with me_,' Minerva thought to the child, before she took a step away from him and transformed back. She sat down on one of the comfortable garden chairs and pulled Harry up onto her lap, mumbling, "Of course I'm your granny, but don't tell anyone about me. As soon as I can, I'll come and take you with me. Don't forget that I love you very much, sweetie, and when it gets too bad at your relatives, come and tell Mrs. Figg. She'll fetch me for you."

Before Harry could even understand everything that Minerva had told him, Poppy and Arabella returned. "I think it's time to leave, Minnie, if we don't want Albus to notice our absence. It's nearly time for dinner," Poppy said gently, knowing how difficult it was for her to leave.

"Bye Gwanny," Harry whispered hardly audibly, waving his hand at Poppy and Minerva, before they left.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

When they reached Poppy's office, Minerva broke down in tears. "Why Poppy, tell me why Albus won't allow me to have Harry? Harry remembers me; he knows that I'm his granny. Lily wanted me to be his granny. Why can't Albus accept that? I'm sure he'd be safe here with me at Hogwarts."

Poppy unobtrusively spelled a calming draught into her friend's stomach, sighing. "Minerva, Albus loves you more than anything else. He's afraid that it would be too much strain for you to raise a young child. You know that your physical condition is not the best, and since you don't allow yourself to show any weakness in front of others he's concerned for you. That's the main reason."

Minerva let out a snort. "It won't be too much for me, and you and Rolanda would help me, wouldn't you? I'm sure even Severus would be willing to help, considering that Harry is Lily's child, and Lily was the best friend he ever had."

"Severus?" Poppy asked unbelievingly. "Don't you remember how he and James Potter hated each other? As much as I'm glad that Albus brought him here as our new Potions Master this school year, I'm more afraid how he'll react to Harry once he enters Hogwarts."

"Do you get along with Severus better than with Slughorn?" Minerva asked softly, knowing how her best friend had always despised the previous Potions Master.

"Yes, he's much better and faster, and I like him a lot. Remember, Minnie, I know him very well."

Minerva sighed, remembering all too well how her Gryffindors had treated their Slytherin classmate, causing him to spend too much time in the hospital wing.

_**Flashback 19**__**th**__** of December, 1975**_

Minerva was sitting in the teachers' stands eagerly watching the Quidditch match Slytherin versus Ravenclaw, when all of a sudden one of the Slytherin Chasers, Severus Snape, fell from his broom from a height of about thirty metres. Before she could pull herself out of her horror induced stupor, her husband stood up and pointed his wand at the student, shouting, "Arresto Momentum."

While the game continued, Minerva followed Albus, who had levitated the boy onto a stretcher, up to the hospital wing, followed by a crying Lily Evans.

"Professor, it was Sirius Black. He jinxed Severus' broom, because Severus called me a Mudblood. But I didn't want Severus to get hurt," Lily sobbed.

In the meantime, they had reached the hospital wing, and Albus lowered Severus onto a bed, so that Poppy could wave her wand over him. "He has a bad concussion and a broken ankle, Albus. The ankle is not a problem, but he won't be able to go home tomorrow with the concussion he has. Please contact his parents. I'll stay here with him through the holidays," she said finally, spelling a few potions into Severus' stomach, before she waved her wand to heal his ankle.

"Albus, please check Mr. Black's wand just to be sure that it was him. If so, I want him expelled," Minerva spoke up firmly, while she still rubbed circles into Lily's back in an attempt to calm the girl.

"Minerva," the Headmaster sighed. "You know as well as I do that I can't expel Mr. Black. He comes from an extremely dark family, and I'm afraid that he would turn to the dark side if I punished him so grievously. I can merely take points off him and give him detention. Let's say, fifty points from Gryffindor and two weeks detention."

Minerva threw her husband an unbelieving look, while she rubbed her forehead against the oncoming headache.

_End of Flashback_

現在

Poppy's soft voice penetrated her ears, "Minnie, are you all right? If so, then let's go to the Great Hall."

"Yes, of course," Minerva replied briskly and walked ahead into the Great Hall in a swift pace, causing Poppy to shake her head in annoyance.

'_She'd never let her students see her real self_,' she mused, while she took her usual seat between Minerva and Severus, noticing that the Headmaster threw his wife a concerned look.

Suddenly, Minerva remembered something that she had meant to ask since they returned to Hogwarts but forgot. "Poppy?" she whispered curiously. "What did Arabella want to talk with you about, if you don't mind me asking."

Poppy sighed, quickly pondering how to reply to this. "I'm sorry Minerva," she said finally, "but I can't tell you that, because I'm bound by my Healer's oath."

Only when Minerva's attention was pulled to a fight at the Gryffindor table, Poppy signalled the Headmaster that she wanted to speak with him later on.

_

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_

tbc…

_Thanks to Mushcorn for her brilliant beta-ing!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	5. Someone Loves Me

**5 – Someone Loves Me**

Harry was sitting in his cupboard, busily cuddling his beautiful toy elephant, the first toy he could ever remember receiving. '_Someone loves me_,' he mused excitedly. '_I met Granny, and she told me she loves me. She said she will come for me and take me with her some day. And the nice lady Pop made me feel all better. They gave me a lot to eat; it feels good. I'm so happy_,' he thought, glad that his small stomach wasn't sore from hunger at the present moment.

"Momi happy too?" he gently asked his elephant, who completely agreed with his owner.

Unbeknownst to the small boy in the cupboard, who fell asleep for the first time in months with a small smile playing on his lips, many miles away in the north of the country several people were thinking or talking about him.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

"Albus, Arabella told me that Harry has a bad rash on his bum, because Petunia apparently doesn't change his nappy often enough. She didn't do anything for his knee when he hurt himself either. It was already badly infected when I arrived, and it was only by chance that Harry was at Arabella's home over the weekend, so that I could help the child. Albus, you have to do something," Poppy pleaded to the Headmaster, who was listening intensely, while he sucked on a lemon drop.

"I'm sorry, Poppy," he finally replied in a grave voice, "but I still have no idea what happened to Voldemort, and I believe that Harry is safest at his relatives' home, even given this information. However, give me a few more months or possibly a year and I'll reconsider."

"If you believe it's necessary," Poppy sighed. "Please remember that Minerva doesn't know about what I just told you. Don't speak to her about the matter either."

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

Over the next few months, Dumbledore kept Minerva busy on Saturdays and even Sundays, so that she didn't have a chance to spend the weekend watching the little boy that she thought of as her grandson. However, once the summer holidays began, he couldn't hold her back all the time.

Due to her health condition, which hadn't been the best during the last few weeks of the school year that had been extremely stressful, Poppy insisted that she had to stay in the castle. Knowing that it would be easier to escape her husband at the school than at Dumbledore Manor, Minerva willingly agreed.

"Poppy, Rolanda, I'm going to watch Harry right after the students go home on Saturday. Are you coming with me?" she queried in determination, sighing in relief when both of her friends promised to join her.

Fortunately, Dumbledore was being kept busy by the Minister of Magic on Saturday and didn't even notice when neither Minerva, nor Poppy or Rolanda showed up in the Great Hall for lunch.

The three friends were sitting on the wall in the Dursleys' back garden, intensely watching the house for any sign of Harry. While Minerva patiently cleaned her fur, watching her friends play around in the nearby tree, she remembered when Poppy and Rolanda had finally managed to become Animagi.

_**Flashback 19**__**th**__** of January, 1940**_

Minerva and Poppy were sitting in the library, huddled over their Transfiguration homework and wondering where Rolanda was, when their friend all of a sudden entered the library, acting very subdued.

"Rolanda, what's wrong?" Minerva asked with a look of concern on her face as she looked expectantly at her.

The girl sighed. "Somehow, they found out that it was me, who charmed the Bludger to go after the Slytherin Seeker in the Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin match last Saturday. And now, Dumbledore just told me that I'm now banned from attending all the Hogsmeade visits for the rest of the school year."

Poppy and Minerva threw Rolanda terrified glances. "That's horrible," Poppy gasped. "I bet it was that fifth year prefect, Gregory. He always suspects us to do something stupid and watches us like a hawk. We should play a prank on him."

"All right, what are we going to do?" Rolanda enquired readily, causing Minerva to sigh.

"Rolanda, you just got punished for something. How can you already be thinking about playing another prank?" Minerva shook her head in exasperation. "I believe it would be much better to plan, how you could join us in Hogsmeade in spite of being banned from joining."

"Join you in Hogsmeade? How? Please, Minnie, tell me!" Rolanda demanded, giving Minerva a hopeful look.

"You just have to practise the Animagus transformation. Who would notice a squirrel making its way from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade?" Minerva replied in a calm voice, throwing her friend a challenging smile.

"Okay," Rolanda agreed in determination. "Minnie, Poppy, from now on we're going to practise every night."

Minerva let out a snort. "Every night could be difficult. Where do you want to practise without others noticing?"

"Maybe we could ask Granny if we can practise in her private quarters," Poppy suggested thoughtfully. "We'd have to tell her what we're practising though, but I think she'll keep our secret."

"Cool Poppy, can we go and ask her right away?" Rolanda queried, impatiently jumping from one foot onto the other.

Minerva sighed in exasperation. "Rolanda, please calm down. Sometimes you behave like a first year," she spoke up, but her friend was already through the door.

_End of Flashback_

現在

Minerva was suddenly jerked out of her reminiscing when the squirrel hit her with her paw on the head. '_Rolanda, don't scratch me, that hurts,_' she complained inwardly, giving her friend an angry hiss, but hurriedly turned her eyes to the Dursley kitchen, where little Harry was standing on a chair in front of the stove cooking dinner.

'_He'll only be three in six weeks' time_,' she thought horrified. '_How can they let a three-year-old cook dinner? That's much too dangerous_.'

The three friends observed how the small boy cooked dinner for his family, before he received a slice of bread with a small slice of cheese and then was thrown back into his cupboard while the rest of the family ate at the dining table.

'_That can't be true!_' Minerva thought in absolute rage and transformed back into her human form, ready to hex the Dursleys into their next great adventure.

Poppy, who had quickly changed back as well and thrown a disillusionment charm over them, held her back, whispering, "Minerva, you can't do anything right now. Transform back immediately."

"I can tell you now, Poppy, this is Albus' last chance. If he doesn't get Harry out of here by the end of the holidays, he can look for a new Transfiguration teacher, because I'll take Harry with me and leave him," Minerva threatened angrily, before she transformed back into her cat form and dashed out of the Dursleys' garden.

During the holidays, the three animals returned nearly every day, observing little Harry do his chores that increased on a daily basis. During the first week of the holidays, Petunia showed Harry how to wash the floor in all the rooms and weed the garden, and Minerva watched in amazement that Momi was always tucked safely under Harry's left arm.

As long as Harry was in sight, Minerva followed his every move with her eyes; however, as soon as he was gone, she couldn't help as her thoughts would wander off, while she absentmindedly observed her friends play in the tree.

_**Flashback 26**__**th**__** of May, 1940**_

Minerva and Poppy slowly walked down the road to Hogsmeade, watching in amazement how a small squirrel could run so much faster than themselves, while they were laughing at Rolanda's antics at the same time. Their friend was gliding from tree to tree, sometimes pretending to fall off just to make them laugh.

"We have to be careful with Rolanda," Poppy said quietly, pointing to the teachers, who were walking several metres in front of them. "Professors Flitwick and Malkin seem to be accompanying us, and Professor Malkin being the Slytherin Head of House will certainly know that Rolanda is banned from Hogsmeade visits."

"That's right," Minerva agreed, groaning inwardly. "Poppy, did you manage to perform the disillusionment charm yet?"

"Well, I'm a bit better than you anyway," her friend grinned, pointing out how Minerva had turned their classmate Niamh pink when she tried to cast the charm on the girl.

"Very well; you can cast the charm on Rolanda then. We can avoid the main street to a certain degree, but I definitely want to visit the bookshop, and I'd like to have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks," Minerva gave back, smirking. "It would be dangerous for Rolanda there without a disillusionment charm."

Unfortunately, it became dangerous for all three of them and for the whole village, because followers of Grindelwald decided to attack Hogsmeade during the Hogwarts students' visit. The three friends had just taken a seat in the Three Broomsticks when parts of the pub collapsed due to an explosion on the main street. Fortunately, the Three Broomsticks was still empty at that time except for the three friends, who had chosen to go in early, so that Rolanda wouldn't be detected even under the disillusionment charm. While Poppy remained unharmed, Minerva was hit in the head by a stone and Rolanda hurt her foot.

"Oh no! What are we going to do now?" Minerva whispered, trying to ignore the splitting headache she now had. "How are we going to get Rolanda back home?"

Poppy quickly waved her wand at her friend, casting a diagnostic spell, before she sighed in defeat. "Rolanda, can you transform back into your squirrel form, so that we can carry you in one of our bags back to the castle?" she queried urgently, causing her friend to try to change back in spite of the pain in her foot. "Her foot is broken, and she needs a potion. I can't heal it like this," she explained on Minerva's questioning look.

However, before Rolanda was able to succeed in transforming into her squirrel form, Professor Malkin entered the shop and came over to them, and unfortunately, Minerva chose exactly that moment to become violently sick, instantly relieving the content of her stomach.

"Minnie probably has a concussion," Poppy explained to the teacher, who immediately cleaned everything up and conjured a stretcher, motioning Minerva to lie down in complete ignorance of her excuse that she felt fine.

"You will accompany us to the hospital wing as well, so that your grandmother can check on you," Professor Malkin instructed Poppy in a stern voice, unwilling to listen to her protests.

"You must tell her," Minerva whispered, causing Poppy to sigh.

"Professor, I'm sorry, but Rolanda is with us as well, and she apparently broke her foot," Poppy admitted to the stern teacher in a small voice, hurriedly cancelling the disillusionment charm.

Professor Malkin raised an eyebrow, threatening, "We'll speak about this later, Miss Pomfrey," before she conjured another stretcher and took the three third years back to the castle and to the hospital wing.

For the last Hogsmeade weekend of the school year, all three of them were banned from attending and had to serve detention in the Potions classroom, but they dare not complain, knowing that they had been lucky to escape the attack on the village relatively unharmed.

_End of Flashback_

現在

Suddenly, a movement at the side of the garden where Harry was weeding caught Minerva's attention. Harry's cousin was pulling out the plants from a flower bed, ignoring Harry's weak protests, before he ran back into the house through the empty kitchen.

Harry hurriedly began to try to stick the flowers back into the soil, devastated when he noticed that it didn't work, because his cousin had damaged the plants when pulling them up. As if on command, his aunt appeared in the frame of the kitchen door, and began shouting at the small boy.

"What do you think you're doing, you ungrateful, little urchin? Ruining all my flower beds! Wait until Vernon comes home; he'll teach you what you're worth, you freak," she screeched, pulling him back into his cupboard by his hair.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

Sensing that Minerva's patience concerning Harry was nearly at its end, Poppy spoke with the Headmaster every evening, begging him to bring the child to Hogwarts.

"Albus, I can promise you now that Minerva is going to do something stupid, if she has to watch the child being abused verbally or physically once more," she told him in her sternest no nonsense Healer's voice.

"All right, Poppy," he finally agreed. "However, you must give me a few weeks' time to strengthen the wards around Hogwarts. At the moment, it wouldn't be safe enough here. I'll try to get Harry here before the end of the holidays, but you have to promise not to speak with Minerva about the matter and to try to keep her away from Harry. She won't listen to me, but she might listen to you."

"No, she won't," Poppy replied simply, throwing Dumbledore a menacing glare as she left his office, shaking her head in exasperation at the Headmaster's stubbornness.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

On Harry's third birthday, it was raining cats and dogs, and Poppy and Rolanda tried to convince Minerva to remain at Hogwarts instead of spending the day in the rain.

"Minnie, you won't get to see Harry anyway. Perhaps he'll be making dinner, but that's all," Poppy tried to reason with her friend. "Harry won't be outside, and you'll definitely catch a cold."

"In my cat form I won't," Minerva objected, stepping into the fireplace to Floo to Arabella's home. As usual, she took her place on the stone wall, observing the Dursleys' kitchen.

An hour later, a dove and a squirrel came running through the rain and flew into the nearby tree to play only for a short while when a little boy appeared coming out of the back door, equipped with a bucket with paint and a paint brush. Over the next few hours, the small boy painted the garden fence, apparently not caring about the fact that he was soaking wet. Only once, he took his Momi from under his left arm, holding him in front of his face, and apologized.

"I'm sowwy, Momi, for getting you wet, but I huwwy now."

When Harry finished the fence that looked quite well considering the fact that he was only three years old and that it was still lightly raining, he hesitantly made his way back to the kitchen, causing Minerva to sigh in relief and observe the kitchen, expecting Petunia to dry the little tyke.

However, a minute later, the door was flung open again and Petunia's voice could be heard. "How dare you come into the kitchen as dirty and wet as you are? Clean yourself up, before you come in." The small child was pushed out of the house, landing hard on the wet ground.

"That's enough!" Minerva hissed in her cat's tongue and quickly transformed back into her human form. Before her friends even realized what was happening, she grabbed the child's arm and apparated away along with the boy.

_

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_

tbc…

_Thanks to Mushcorn for her brilliant beta-ing!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	6. Rescues

**6 – Rescues**

Instead of taking Harry to Hogwarts, knowing that she couldn't apparate straight into the castle, she apparated to the entrance hall of McGonagall Manor, where Malcolm greeted them excitedly.

"Welcome back home, Mistress Minerva," the elf said, bowing deeply.

"Hello Malcolm. This is Harry Potter. I'll tell you later what happened, but I think Harry is in dire need of a warm bath and something warm to eat and drink afterwards," Minerva explained quickly, while she hurried towards the staircase, a wet and shivering child on her arms. She took the boy into the bedroom, which she had lived in, before she married Albus and moved to the master bedroom. She spoke to the child in a soothing voice.

"Hello Harry, you know who I am, don't you?" she queried softly, causing the boy to throw her a hesitant look.

"Gwanny!" he whispered in absolute delight as recognition set in.

"That's correct," Minerva gave back, smiling. "Now Harry, you're completely wet and cold. I need you to get out of your wet clothes and take a bath quickly. Afterwards we're going to have something to eat."

Seeing that Harry gave her a frightened look, she asked softly, "Harry, may I take off your clothes so I can bathe and dry you?"

Harry anxiously agreed, watching as Minerva pulled her wand. '_The Poppy lady has such a stick too and she made me feel better_,' he mused, all of a sudden noticing that his clothes were gone and he felt warm and dry. Minerva ushered him into the bathroom, causing him to stare at the bathtub in fright.

"What's wrong, sweetie? Come on and take a warm bath; it'll make you feel much warmer," Minerva explained softly, gently taking his Momi out of his hands, putting the stuffed elephant on a low shelf, while she tried hard not to groan at the sight of the many bruises and welts covering his small body.

However, memories of very hot baths Harry had to endure in Vernon Dursley's presence appeared before him which made the boy shiver from the remembered pain and fear, while he took in the charmed window on the wall right over the bathtub, which showed the view of a lake, in amazement.

It took Minerva nearly a quarter of an hour to coax the child into speaking, before Harry finally admitted that he made bad experiences and the hot water hurt his skin.

"Harry, this water is not hot, it's comfortably warm," Minerva told him in a soothing voice, testing the water with her hand.

Harry sighed in relief when the warm water hit his skin, noticing that it wasn't hot at all. '_That feels so good_,' he mused, having never before experienced such a comfortable bath. '_At the Dursleys it's either icy cold or very hot. Maybe it's because of the magic that Granny can make it so comfortable_.'

Minerva conjured a toy dragon that was able to swim laps in the tub for the child to play with while she gently washed his hair and body. '_Why is there a swimming dragon in the water_?' Harry mused in complete lack of understanding, noticing that Minerva was washing his hair much more gently than Petunia, while he absentmindedly played with the colourful bubbles Minerva had conjured earlier.

"Why don't you play with your dragon, sweetie?" Minerva queried in surprise, seeing that the child was merely eyeing the toy with interest.

"My toy to pway wif?" Harry asked incredulously, before a huge smile appeared on his face when Minerva nodded affirmatively.

When Minerva deemed Harry clean enough, she took him out and wrapped him into a huge towel, allowing him to have his Momi back, before she carried him back into her former bedroom, placing him on the bed. "Harry, do you still need a nappy?" she enquired gently, knowing that he wore one before, while the skin on his bum seemed to be infected and looked very sore.

"No, but not 'loud wifout nappy," Harry replied in a small voice, causing Minerva to sigh in annoyance.

"Are you sure that you don't need a nappy, Harry? Do you know when you have to go to the toilet?" she asked softly.

"Yes, but can't go toilet when in my cupboard," Harry whispered, obviously feeling uncomfortable with the topic.

"All right then," Minerva decided, putting normal underpants on the child. "Please tell me if you have to use the toilet, especially if you need help, sweetie."

"Fanku," Harry replied in obvious relief.

Minerva was still busy conjuring clothes for the child, when Malcolm appeared with a pop. Harry threw the house elf a frightened look, startled when Minerva began to laugh.

"This, Harry, is Malcolm, my personal house elf. He raised me, especially after my mother died," she explained in a gentle voice.

"Hello," Harry said shyly, causing a small smile to appear on Malcolm's face.

"Hello Master Harry," Malcolm replied, bowing. "Mistress Minerva, guests are waiting in the parlour. Mistress Poppy and Mistress Rolanda are wanting to see you and Master Harry."

Minerva sighed. "That's all right, Malcolm. Please lead them up here."

Minerva was just finished dressing Harry in a quickly conjured summer outfit with small Momis on it, which caused Harry to giggle in excitement, when Poppy and Rolanda entered the room.

"We heard that a birthday party was going on here," Poppy said gently. "Hello Harry and Happy Birthday to you."

"Hello Aunt Poppy," Harry replied with a happy twinkle in his eyes.

"This is Aunt Rolanda," Poppy introduced their friend. "She's a good friend of your granny and me."

"Hello," Harry said shyly, while a huge yawn escaped his lips.

Unbeknownst to the child, the bubbles, which Minerva had conjured for his bath, had contained a calming essence that would make him sleep for a few hours, long enough to fight the upcoming fight with her husband; at least Minerva hoped that he would give in by the time Harry woke up.

Seeing that Harry was drifting off to sleep, even before eating, Minerva gently covered him with the warm bed cover, transfiguring the burgundy colour into a pattern of small blue elephants like Momi, while she observed that in his sleep Harry cuddled his Momi close, while a small thumb wandered into his mouth.

Poppy quickly waved her wand over the child, before she ushered her friends out of the room. "That was a spell, which will alert you as soon as he is beginning to wake up, so that you'll have enough time to head to his room, before he opens his eyes."

"Now, what are we going to do about Albus?" Rolanda queried, taking a seat in the parlour, where Minerva had led them.

Minerva let out a deep sigh, lighting the fireplace. "There are two possibilities. Either he agrees that we raise Harry at Hogwarts, or he'll have to look for a new wife if he wants one and a new Transfiguration teacher," she told her friends as a matter of fact. "I already know what I'd do, and I don't care if he likes it or not, he will just have to learn to live with my decision or leave. All right now, let's call Albus," she quickly changed the topic. '_I hope he'll agree, although I believe that my idea is quite brilliant_,' she mused, while she called her husband to have him come to the manor.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

A minute later, Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace, curiously looking at the three friends, before he queried, "What happened, Minnie?"

'_I hope he's going to keep that twinkle in his eyes after I tell him what I've done_,' Minerva thought, before she replied, "I took Harry from the Dursleys."

Her husband let out a long sigh, thoughtfully stroking his white beard, before he gave back calmly, "I thought you might do that sometime soon. You know that you're endangering the child because of the loss of his blood protection, but if you believe you're able to raise him safely at Hogwarts, I'll of course help you, my dear."

Realizing that his wife was gaping at him, he asked in concern, "Was there anything else, Minnie?"

"No," Minerva replied in confusion. "I just didn't think that you'd give in so easily."

Dumbledore stepped over, pulling her into a light embrace. "I love you, my dear, more than anything else. Minnie, you'll come back to Hogwarts tonight, won't you?" he queried in a rather concerned voice, causing Minerva to pull him into a kiss.

"Yes Albus, Harry is currently asleep, but I'll bring him to Hogwarts after he wakes. I only apparated here with him, because he was completely soaked and I wanted to get him out of his wet clothes and rain quickly. I intend to be back by dinnertime at the latest."

"Harry won't be able to attend dinner tonight," Poppy, who had just re-entered the room, informed them in a soft voice. "I just went to check on him and he has a chest cold, which is in its beginning stages. He is also getting a fever. I sent Malcolm to Hogwarts to fetch a phial of Pepperup potion, which I spelled into his stomach, and I hope he'll be well by tomorrow, but I have to check on him again later on."

"Can I take him through the Floo?" Minerva queried, her voice laced with concern.

"Of course, Minnie, that's not a problem," Poppy replied soothingly. "Maybe you should take him while he's still asleep though. He won't feel too good when he wakes up anyway."

"Albus, will you stay with us in my quarters, please? Harry needs both of us," Minerva asked, throwing her husband a pleading look.

"Of course, my dear, I'll also take turns with you looking after the child if necessary," Dumbledore replied, hugging his wife, before he floo-ed back to Hogwarts.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

A few hours later, Harry was fast asleep on Minerva's bed at Hogwarts. Although Albus had made the house-elves prepare a room for Harry next to Minerva's and his bedroom, Minerva found it safer to have the child sleep in her own bed between her and Albus, while he was ill and his breathing was slightly laboured. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, trying to read a book, although her eyes kept wandering over to the small child sleeping next to her.

All of a sudden, her thoughts wandered back to her own childhood.

_**Flashback June, 1942**_

Minerva was at home together with her stepmother, waiting for her father to come home when his school holidays would finally commence at the end of the month. Her stepmother made her do chores every morning, which she expected to be done by the time she returned from school in the early afternoon, only to complain about how stupid and good for nothing Minerva was every day.

'_I have to try to get along with her for Dad's sake_,' Minerva told herself and feverishly tried to do everything that was expected of her like she had already done over the last few summer holidays apart from the time when her father was at home. Unfortunately, a week before her father's holidays were to begin, Minerva noticed that she was coming down with a cold and informed her step mother, asking if she could do her chores the next day.

"No, that's not my problem, and since you're freak you'll be able to heal yourself anyway," her stepmother replied, insisting she had to finish her chores, before she returned.

Three days later, Minerva's condition had worsened immensely and she could hardly breathe, but her stepmother didn't even care that she hadn't eaten or been able to keep anything that she drank down in three days. Instead she insisted that she should just heal herself and had to do her chores anyway.

'_I can't take this anymore. By the time Dad arrives, I might already be dead_,' she mused, feeling worse than she had ever felt in her life. '_I'll take the Knight Bus and go to see Poppy. Maybe I can stay with her, at least until Dad returns_.' She quickly packed her trunk and dragged herself out of the house, glad that her stepmother was still at school. Shivering violently, she stepped to the side of the street, where she weakly waved her wand to call the Knight Bus, glad that it appeared within seconds.

The conductor eyed her in obvious concern and helped her to the next bed, instructing her to lie down. He brought her trunk up into the bus, before he asked, "To St. Mungo's?"

"No, to the Pomfreys', please," Minerva croaked, glad to be able to lie down.

The conductor apparently took pity on her and told the driver to go to the Pomfreys' first, since they arrived in front of Poppy's parents' house five minutes later. He gently helped Minerva out, carried her trunk for her up to the entrance door, and rang the bell, obviously to make sure that someone was there, who would be able to look after her. Only when the door was opened did the Knight Bus dash away with a jump.

"Minerva!" Theresa, Poppy's grandmother, who opened the door, said in surprise, only to ask, "Oh no, what's wrong with you, dear? Come in and let me take you into the guest room." Seeing that Minerva couldn't stay on her feet anymore, she told her to lie down on the spot, before she conjured a stretcher and levitated her into the guest room, where she waved her wand over her several times. Finally, she pocketed her wand and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Minerva, I thought you were at home. How is it possible that your parents let you travel on the Knight Bus with a lung infection?" she queried sternly, before she called a house-elf, asking for a few potions from her potions lab.

"My stepmother wouldn't do anything to help me; she just made me do more chores. She hates me, because I'm a witch," Minerva explained hoarsely, "and my father isn't home from school yet. Could I perhaps stay here until he returns home in a few days?" she asked hesitantly.

"You'll have to remain here in this bed for at least a week, and I don't know if you should go home again at all, considering that you were completely neglected and at the very least verbally abused," Theresa replied thoughtfully, before she made Minerva drink two potions.

"I'll go and send Poppy to you," she promised and left the room.

A few minutes later, her best friend was at her side. "Minnie, you don't have to go back there ever again. You can just come home with me over the holidays," Poppy told her friend in a calming but determined voice.

From that time onwards, Minerva always spent the holidays at the Pomfreys' home, where her father occasionally visited her.

_End of Flashback_

現在

Suddenly, Minerva was pulled out of her reverie when Albus entered the room, sighing.

"I'm sorry, Minerva, but this is all more complicated than I first thought. I spoke with Filius and Severus about Harry, and we came to the conclusion that we need to hide him," he informed her in a soft voice, causing Minerva to frown.

"What do you mean with 'hide' Harry?" she queried sternly.

"Ah, Minnie, don't make yourself so upset. You know that you mustn't do that," her husband sighed, pulling her into a hug.

_

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_

tbc…

_Thanks to Mushcorn for her brilliant beta-ing!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	7. Flying

**7 – Flying**

"Albus, you're causing me to get upset. What are you going to do with Harry? I don't want to hide him. I want him to stay with me," Minerva replied in an upset voice.

"Yes Minnie, I know that, and it's all right," Albus told her in a soothing voice. "However, in order to hide him from the numerous curious eyes, we thought that it would be best if you blood adopted him, so he could be your grandchild."

"All right," Minerva agreed, feeling slightly surprised at her husband's suggestion. "What do I have to do in order to blood adopt him?"

"Poppy needs to take three drops of your blood, and then Severus will brew a potion for Harry," Dumbledore explained gently. "According to Severus he can only give him the potion when he is completely healthy though. In the meantime, you can think of a story including the name of his parents, one of which was your child, and what happened to them."

"That's not difficult, Albus. Lily McGonagall was his mother, and she died because some of the remaining Death Eaters killed her a few weeks ago. Since his father was murdered by Voldemort when Harry was still a baby, I took Harry in," Minerva suggested, looking straight into his baby-blue eyes for confirmation.

"Very well Minerva, then we have to stick to this story and inform Poppy, Severus, Filius and Rolanda accordingly. As far as I know, no one else is aware of who Harry truly is and therefore do not know that he is not really your grandson."

"Maybe we also should change his birthday, even if it is only a difference of a couple of days," Minerva said thoughtfully. "Too many people know Harry Potter's date of birth. He is too sick today to enjoy his birthday anyway, so maybe we should have it be August the second."

"That's a wonderful idea, and we'll have a proper birthday party in the Great Hall, provided that Poppy deems him fit enough on the day after tomorrow," Albus replied in a soothing voice, before he leaned over pulling his wife in a passionate kiss.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

Two days later, Harry's condition had improved greatly, and Poppy decided that he was well enough to take the adoption potion and eventually participate in his birthday party, which she and Rolanda were preparing in the Great Hall.

"Harry, I'd like to give you a potion, which will make you look more like your Granny Minerva," Poppy gently explained to the child. "It will also ensure that you'll be able to remain here with your granny and granddad and not have to return to the Dursleys ever again."

"Kay," Harry replied, throwing the nice Aunt Poppy an anxious look.

"Harry, the effects of the potion might be a bit uncomfortable and it will probably hurt a little. Please tell me immediately if you feel unwell or are in pain, so I can help you. All right, sweetie?" Poppy continued in her soft soothing voice, causing the child to give her a frightened nod.

'_The poor boy; he's afraid_,' Minerva thought, before she queried, "Wouldn't it be better to spell the potion into his stomach, Poppy?"

"I'll do that if you take him onto your lap and cuddle him," Poppy replied, causing Minerva to pull Harry up onto her lap and whisper soothingly into his ear.

"Really?" Harry asked unbelievingly as he turned around to glance into his new guardian's face, seeing that she gave him a confirming smile.

"Yes sweetie, today is your birthday, and we're going to have a birthday party for you, together will all my colleagues and friends," Minerva repeated aloud, while Poppy used the distraction to spell the potion into the child's system.

Minerva noticed that the boy nestled deeper into her robes and cuddled him close, while Poppy pressed a small phial against his lips. "Drink this, sweetie; it will help with the pain," she said soothingly, causing Harry to greedily sip the cool liquid, sighing in relief as he felt the effects take place.

Minerva carefully turned Harry around so that he sat on her lap facing her. "Oh sweetie, you are so handsome," she told him gently as she conjured a small hand mirror so Harry could see himself, frowning as Harry backed up startled as he saw a face in the small thing his granny held in front of him. "Harry, that's your own face. Have you never seen a mirror before?" she asked in confusion.

"No," Harry replied anxiously. "Me?" he queried surprised, pointing at the face in the mirror.

"Yes sweetie, that's you," Poppy said gently, observing that Harry's unruly hair had straightened out a bit, the structure of his face had slightly changed, and he kept his beautiful emerald green eyes. She unobtrusively cast a diagnostic spell over the child, nodding contentedly, before she asked, "Now Harry, do you feel well enough to accompany us to the Great Hall for breakfast?"

"Bweakfas?" Harry repeated unsurely, causing Minerva to groan inwardly. '_He thinks he has to make breakfast for us_,' she mused, observing how the child's face darkened at the thought.

"Yes sweetie," she said in the happiest voice she could muster, "you saw my house-elf Malcolm at home, didn't you? Here at Hogwarts there are lots of house-elves and they make delicious food. Let's go and have breakfast together with all the other teachers, who are staying in the castle over the holidays, and with Granddad Albus."

"Gwanda Abu," Harry giggled, finding the old man with the long white beard extremely funny.

Minerva gently pried the child off her lap and took him by the hand, so Poppy and she could lead him down to the Great Hall. Harry looked around with no small amount of interest as they walked through the empty corridors. Harry would giggle when the nice witches and wizards in the paintings kindly waved at him. Sometimes, he stopped walking to speak with people in the pictures or to point scenes out to Poppy and Minerva, so that it took them ages, before they finally reached the Great Hall.

Minerva's colleagues had done their best to turn the Great Hall into a playground that was safe and enjoyable for a toddler, and Harry looked in amazement at the huge slides, the ball pool that contained hundreds of colourful small balls, and the red tricycle that stood there waiting for the toddler to mount it.

Harry's eyes widened as he recognized it as similar to the one Dudley received for his birthday only weeks ago. He hesitantly pulled at Minerva's robes, until she gently leaned down to speak with him. "Can I wide?" he whispered, pointing at the tricycle in excitement.

"Yes sweetie, that's for you to play on," Minerva replied gently, "but we need to have breakfast first."

"Kay," Harry said obediently and followed his grandmother to the Head table, where he was introduced to the Hogwarts staff as Harry McGonagall, Minerva's grandson.

"Harry, you do remember that you're allowed and even expected to sit at the table with us, don't you?" Poppy whispered gently, sensing that his steps became smaller as they came near the table. She gently led him to the empty seat next to Rolanda, who gently ruffled his hair, as he sat down next to her watching in amazement as the chair magically adjusted his height, so he could see over the table.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" Rolanda cheered. "Now you're three and already a big boy, aren't you?"

"Yes," Harry replied shyly, throwing the nice lady, whom he remembered meeting before, a grateful glance, looking around bewildered when everyone began to sing 'Happy Birthday' to him.

"Can you blow the candles out, Harry?" Minerva, who had taken the seat on Harry's other side, queried gently, knowing that the child's breathing was still slightly laboured.

Rolanda showed Harry how to blow the candles out, and the boy obediently tried but couldn't blow strongly enough. Throwing Rolanda a pleading glance, he whispered hesitantly, "You hewp pwease?"

Together they blew the candles out, causing breakfast to appear on the table. Minerva placed a bit of everything onto Harry's plate, and Harry unquestioningly tried to eat a small breakfast until his stomach felt completely full.

"Now Harry, let's go and have a look at your presents," Rolanda invited him, pulling the small boy with her to a small table, on which several colourful presents were arranged in a pile.

The first present Rolanda handed him was a booklet with a light blue cover, '_The Tales of Beedle the Bard_,' and Harry eyed the small book in absolute excitement. "Fow me?" he queried unbelievingly.

"Yes my boy, that's for you. This is a book with small stories everyone in the magical world has read to them as a child," the old man, whom Harry had gotten to know as Granddad Albus, explained gently, while his eyes were twinkling merrily. "If you behave well for your granny, I'm sure Granny won't mind reading you a bedtime story," he added, smiling at the child.

"Fank you," Harry replied happily, before he turned to the next present Rolanda opened for him. Several more books, sweets, and a brilliant soft ball that changed its colour each time it was caught later, Rolanda handed him the last present, which was much larger than the others and held a toddler's broom.

"A bwoom?" Harry eyed the thing in his hand questioningly, causing Rolanda to laugh; only slowly becoming aware of the frightened expression that spread across the boy's face. '_What do they want me to clean_?' he mused, slightly beginning to panic.

"That's a broom for flying, Harry. Flying on a broom is a lot of fun, and if you want me to I can teach you how to fly on it," Rolanda explained gently.

"Yes pwease," Harry gave back in absolute amazement. '_That sounds fun_,' he thought, throwing the kind lady a huge smile. '_Aunt Rolanda is her name_,' he remembered, '_but that's difficult to say_.'

"Harry, after a nice long nap after lunch you may go flying with Aunt Rolanda if you wish," Poppy told him, causing the child to jump up and down on both feet in excitement.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

While Harry was taking his nap, Minerva was sitting on the edge of his bed trying to concentrate on a book. However, she couldn't help as her thoughts drifted back to her own childhood.

_**Flashback 9**__**th**__** of September, 1937**_

Since they had arrived at Hogwarts, Rolanda had been bothering Poppy and Minerva that they should go flying together; however, during the first week of classes, they had been so busy that they hadn't been able to find the time. However, on Friday evening in their second week at Hogwarts, the three friends decided to head out onto the grounds after curfew.

As soon as they had left Gryffindor Tower, Minerva transformed into her cat form and ran ahead to make sure they wouldn't meet anyone, while her friends hid in an alcove only moving on when she signalled them that the coast was clear. Finally, they arrived on the Quidditch pitch, and Rolanda ran ahead to fetch three school brooms from the broom cupboard, leaving Poppy and Minerva to wonder how their friend already knew where the brooms were stored.

"Can any of you conjure a Snitch?" Rolanda queried, looking helplessly at Poppy and Minerva.

"I'm not sure," Minerva replied thoughtfully, pulling a tissue out of her robe pocket. She waved her wand at the tissue, causing it to change into a Snitch. Seeing her friends hold their stomachs laughing, she hurriedly slid it into her robe pocket and huffed, "Well, feel free to try and do it better."

"It's all right, Minnie, the Snitch is brilliant; I just didn't know that a Snitch could be red," Rolanda laughed, while Poppy gently laid an arm across Minerva's shoulders.

"Respect Minnie, you did that really well. I wish I was so good at Transfiguration," Poppy said gently, holding her hand out for the Snitch, which Minerva hesitantly handed over.

The three friends spent nearly two hours flying, unaware of the fact that it had become completely dark while they were enjoying the fresh air. The sky was cloudy, and only faint moon light lit the dark Quidditch pitch a bit. It was nearly midnight when Rolanda finally caught the red Snitch, which could barely be seen against the dark blue sky. She just held the struggling ball up into the air for her friends to see when a strict voice from the ground caught their attention.

"Come down here immediately!"

Minerva turned her head, recognizing the voice of Professor Malkin, the Potions Master and Slytherin Head of House. '_Oh no_!' she thought, terrified. '_We're going to lose a lot of House points, and Professor Dumbledore will be so disappointed_.' She hurriedly turned her broom towards the grounds, unable to properly estimate the distance in the dark, and crashed into the ground full force, before everything went dark.

The next thing she knew, she found herself in the hospital wing that was dimly lit by a few torches between the windows, causing her to realize that it was still night. Poppy, Rolanda, Professor Malkin, and Theresa, Poppy's grandmother, were standing around her bed, watching her in obvious concern.

"No Minerva," Theresa said firmly, pushing her back as she wearily attempted to sit up. "You have broken your right ankle and your left arm, and you have a bad concussion. I'm going to keep you here for at least a few days."

After an absolutely annoying week in the hospital wing that was only half-way endurable because Poppy and Rolanda spent all their free time with her, the three girls had to serve detention in the Potions classroom every evening for six weeks, causing the three friends to resolve to never let themselves being caught again.

_End of Flashback_

現在

Minerva was pulled out of her memory when Harry stirred and opened his innocent green eyes.

"Hello sweetie," she cooed, gently stroking his soft cheeks that were still warm from sleep, "did you have a nice nap?"

"Yes," Harry smiled, "me go pway big haww?"

"Yes, you may play on your birthday playground in the Great Hall, Harry. Let's get you dressed and head down to the Great Hall. We also need to eat your birthday cake," Minerva said softly, before she gently changed the boy's clothes to a comfortable light blue jumpsuit with green dragons that matched his eyes. Harry looked down at himself in awe as he noticed that the small dragons made sounds and breathed fire from time to time and giggled as one chased his finger around his small stomach.

By the time Minerva and Harry reached the Great Hall, the other teachers were already waiting for them to arrive having tea, in order to eat Harry's birthday cake that was an exact replica of Hogwarts.

"Let's have cake first," Minerva suggested, causing Harry to look at the cake in amazement, before he hesitantly shook his head.

"Fank you, Gwanny, but I'm no hungwy. Can pway dewe and wide twicy?"

"Don't you want to eat cake?" Minerva queried in surprise, frowning as Harry shook his head and looked longingly to the playground.

"Minerva, I can take him over to the slides and keep an eye on him," Severus offered, relieved to see that the child didn't resemble his father as much anymore as he had before he took the blood potion.

"Very well, thank you Severus," Minerva replied gratefully, turning to Harry. "Harry, do you remember Uncle Severus? He came and made you all better with his potions the other day, didn't he?"

"Yes," Harry replied, smiling, and reached out for the tall man's hand, happily walking over to the playground at his side.

Harry spent the whole afternoon playing on his playground, while Severus and Rolanda took turns watching him. Rolanda even offered to take Harry flying, but Poppy instructed her to give him another day to recover from his illness and promised the child that Rolanda would teach him to fly in the morning.

ハリーと猫ちゃんの心臓問題

That night, Harry spent the first night in his own room. "Do you think he'll be all right on his own?" Minerva queried as she nestled into Albus' embrace, causing her husband to soothingly wipe errand strands of hair from her face.

"Yes, Minnie, he'll be all right. Remember, he slept in a dark cupboard for the last two years, and you placed a spell on him that alerts you if he is in trouble, didn't you?"

"Yes," Minerva replied, sighing.

"Then everything will be fine. Go to sleep, Minnie," Albus said soothingly, gently caressing her face until her breathing evened out.

Several hours later, after the Headmaster had returned to his office to do some late night work, Minerva dreamt about Harry's first flying lesson with Rolanda.

_Rolanda showed the child how to properly sit on the broom, and without even bothering to listen to her explanations Harry took off into the air. In spite of all the safety charms and spells that had been cast on his toddler's broom, he went further and further upwards towards something golden that looked like a Snitch but was in fact a sunray. Suddenly however, he couldn't breathe anymore as he reached a height, in which the air was considerably thinner, and Harry tumbled down several hundred metres, before he hit the ground full force._

At that point Minerva woke up with a sudden jerk and in a cold sweat, terrified as she remembered her dream that seemed so very vivid in her mind. She scrambled out of her bed and headed into Harry's room to confirm that the child was all right. She then lit the fireplace in the living room, transformed into her feline form and curled up in front of the fireplace, craving the warmth of the fire as she slowly drifted back to sleep.

When she woke up in the morning lazily opening her eyes, she had to keep tight control on herself in order not to scream aloud at the sight of something huge and black right next to her that was even covering parts of her body.

_

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tbc…

_Thank you for your kind reviews that encouraged me to write on! _

_Thanks to Mushcorn for her invaluable help, advice, and editing._

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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